Suppose your household sits exactly in the middle of net worth in the United States, meaning that 50% of households are worth more and 50% less, exactly at the median of net worth. What is YOUR net worth?
According to the most recent (2007) Survey of Consumer Finances from the Federal Reserve, YOUR net worth is…
$120,300.
Now suppose that all the wealth in the United States were distributed equally among all the households, so that everybody had exactly the average (mean) amount of wealth.
What would YOU get?
$556,300.
YOU would gain $436,000!
It might also surprise middle-class Americans to learn that the middle class is not in the middle.
Suppose you’re exactly in the the middle of the middle class, exactly in the middle of the middle quintile of wealth, which is wealthier than the bottom 40% but poorer than the top 40%.
Then YOUR net worth is only…
$88,100.
But if all the wealth in the United States were distributed exactly equally among all the families…
Then YOU would gain $468,200.
2 comments
thought everyone should be rich.
It’s quite do-able for the US.
I have to ask though, and take it a step farther–why should the US be special?
Why should Pakisani’s have to work for $5/week or whatever the figure is now?
I’m for that sort of globalization.